HELLOBONJOURhttps://hellobonjour.ca
Travel Inspired & Travel InspiringWed, 21 Feb 2018 19:08:05 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/https://s2.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.pngHELLOBONJOURhttps://hellobonjour.ca
You’re Canadian? But you aren’t White!https://hellobonjour.ca/2014/10/08/youre-canadian-but-you-arent-white/
https://hellobonjour.ca/2014/10/08/youre-canadian-but-you-arent-white/#respondWed, 08 Oct 2014 11:26:31 +0000http://hellobonjour.ca/?p=77I’m sitting at a German pub with my German husband and two other Canadian friends visiting. FACTS: I’m Canadian (born in Afghanistan – moved to Canada when I was 3). My two friends are also Canadian (one was born in Iran but moved to Canada when he was 12 and the other was born in Canada to a Malaysian mom and British dad). Just to state the obvious, we aren’t “white”.

A friendly, German man next to me leans over, notices we are speaking English and joins our conversation. After a few minutes he asks us where we are from – I start “Canada”, my two friend also say “Canada” and my husband says “Germany”. The man’s eyebrows raise each time we say “Canada”, as if he doesn’t believe us – and then he opens his mouth and confirms the thought. “But how can you be Canadian – where are you really from?”.

I find this thought very interesting. Is it because in Germany, people are only really considered “German” if they have German blood in them, from the people who originally lived here (which is also starting to get a bit muddled as you already have second generation Turkish-Germans here)? Every time this topic comes up, I have to clarify that being “Canadian” does not mean that you are “white”. Everyone is from somewhere else in Canada – the only true “Canadians”, if we would want to really point them out, are the First Nations – Canada’s truly original inhabitants. (Don’t get me started on correcting the Germans from calling First Nations – Indianer – argghh.)

I am Canadian and I am originally from Afghanistan. I think that’s the beauty of Canada – we are all Canadian and we can be from somewhere else if we want to be. Some people identify more with where they are originally from and others don’t. Some wear turbans, some wear head scarves, some wear dreadlocks, some wear bikinis, some wear tatoos – it doesn’t matter – no one is MORE “Canadian” than the other. We are all just Canadian and that’s it.

And I think that’s where the brilliance of it comes in. Allowing you to have your own culture, practice your own religion and hold your own beliefs, but also accepting its general laws and rules, Canada has done what many countries are still struggling desperately with. It has included everyone. Inclusion is what we should we striving for – not integration.

]]>https://hellobonjour.ca/2014/10/08/youre-canadian-but-you-arent-white/feed/0hellobonjourblogCanada_flag-5The Magical, Green Island – A Road Trip in Ireland!https://hellobonjour.ca/2013/11/07/the-magical-green-island-a-road-trip-in-ireland/
https://hellobonjour.ca/2013/11/07/the-magical-green-island-a-road-trip-in-ireland/#respondThu, 07 Nov 2013 13:41:22 +0000http://hellobonjour.ca/?p=494Living in Europe has many benefits. One of my favourites is that you can jump on a plane for a long weekend and escape to another country with a different history, language and culture! This is totally the opposite of living in Vancouver. The closest country with a different language and culture is Mexico, and that is still a 6 hour flight away! I digress. We decided to use the October ‘extra’ long weekend Berliners enjoyed for the German National Holiday (Oct 3rd) to explore the land of sheep, Guinness and green pastures: Ireland. The plan was to rent a car in Dublin and explore for 4 days. Our itinerary and more pictures after the jump!

Our rough itinerary:

Wed night: Arrive in Dublin

Thurs: Check out Dublin in the morning and then drive to Dingle Peninsula in the afternoon; stay night in Dingle town

Fri: Explore Slea Head Drive and walking trails on the Peninsula, stay Fri night in Ennis

Sat: Head to the Cliffs of Moher and check out the Burren National Park, drive back to Dublin and stay Sat night in Dublin

Sun: Explore Dublin; fly back home

Arriving in Dublin, I was surprised by how mild the weather was. I guess I expected fairly chillier temperatures for the beginning of October in Ireland, but the weather was truly lovely fall weather, around 15 degrees Celsius. We stayed at the Leeson Guesthouse which was comfortable and affordable at 75 Euros including breakfast. The one thing to note is that it is hard to get food after 10pm in Dublin (or Ireland on the whole, for that matter). We were constantly struggling with this as we sometimes eat late when on vacation. That just doesn’t work in Ireland. We found a pub the first night and they looked shocked when we asked for some food at 1030pm. Luckily, the Irish are so nice that they put together some sandwiches for our sake and we weren’t left to go hungry our first night in Ireland.

We explored Dublin the next day and just walked around different areas. The center of the city is really compact and easily walkable. Parking is a bit of a nightmare so would suggest leaving the car (if you have one) at your hotel and walking. There were some gorgeous little streets on both sides of the River Liffey: Capel Street, Henry Street, Temple Bar area (famed for nightlife but during the day, it’s very pretty), St. Andrew’s Street, Trinity Street, William Street, etc.

We had lunch at a great, authentic Dubliner pub called Doheny & Nesbitt on Baggot Street Lower. Delicious food and great, authentic atmosphere. (P.S. We never really figured out tipping in Ireland but usually left a couple of Euros after each meal, whether at a pub or restaurant.)

When it started raining, we decided to jump in the car and head towards the coast – we wanted to see the famous Dingle Peninsula. (P.S. A note on driving on the other side of the road – I was the driver for the trip and had never driven on the other side of the road before. It wasn’t too bad – it takes a bit at the beginning to figure it out, but you get the hang of it pretty quick. Whenever I made a left turn, I had to constantly say out loud ” LEFT is LEFT” so I remembered to stay in the left lane after the turn. Oh and we rented an automatic car to make it that much easier.)

After a scenic 3.5 hour drive, we arrived at the Peninsula. We took a windy, small round for another 30 kms to reach Dingle town, stopping along the way for pictures of the beautiful scenery.

Dingle Peninsula, Ireland

We found a bed & breakfast in Dingle town (The Lantern Townhouse) for an affordable 70 euros including breakfast, and headed out to find a bite to eat before the pubs/restaurants stopped serving. Dingle town is a small, picturesque town on the water. Its two main streets are lined with beautiful traditional storefronts and houses. Beyond the town are green pastures and rolling hills. The scenery and salty fresh air instantly made us relax. We definitely weren’t the only ones there. Dingle is quite the tourist town and the prices at the restaurants indicate the level of clientelle they are used to. Plenty of high-end fish restaurants with fanciful fish creations at Manhattan prices. We walked around until we found something a bit more authentic and sans white table clothes. Boy, did we ever hit the jackpot. The sign outside “If we don’t catch it today, we don’t serve it” caught our attention, as well as the promise that everything is served fresh and not frozen. The restaurant is called Out of the Blue. We ordered a fish chowder, and some hake and Pollock, I think. It was by far, the best fish I have ever had in my life. I would travel to Dingle again just to eat dinner here.

Harbour in Dingle Town

The next day, we drove out of Dingle along the Slea Head drive, a well-known beautiful drive. We hopped out at various points to just go on a random walk or enjoy the scenery. It was truly stunning – green, rolling hills spotted with puffs of white sheep and a beautiful blue sea in the background. I felt alive and revitalized!

Slea Head Drive

We went back to Dingle (you kind of have to after doing the highway loop) and drove out towards Ennis. We wanted to cover some ground on the way to Cliffs of Moher. After a few hours drive, we arrived in Ennis and had a really tough time finding a place to stay. The old town has no hotels or B&Bs – you have to stay further away and drive into town (only 5 mins) when you want to walk around the old town. We found a room finally at Westbrook House, which was decent and affordable again at 70 Euros, including breakfast. The owners were really nice and welcoming.

We used Ennis essentially as a launching point to get to Cliff of Moher, which is only 40 minutes drive away. After a hearty breakfast the next day, we set out for the cliffs! Upon arriving, the parking lot was already pretty full and there were swarms of tourists everywhere. If it was this busy in October, I can only imagine how busy it gets in July! We only had a couple of hours here but would have loved to stay longer and do some more of the walking trails. You can actually walk from one little village to another along the cliffs, but we just didn’t have the time!

A beautiful shot of the cliffs from Martin Benke

Us at the Cliffs

We headed off to check out one last stop before heading to Dublin. I had heard lots about the Burren, one of the largest areas of Karst in Europe, and since it was supposedly a 45 minute drive, we thought it would be a great way to spend the afternoon before heading back to Dublin. It didn’t exactly turn out that way.

We had beautiful glimpses of this amazing national park and landscape as we were driving. The only thing was that we didn’t have too much time to explore. There seemed to be only one designated parking area and then you had to spend a couple of hours hiking or walking to get anywhere interesting. We thought we could just get a quick walk in but instead we had to settle with a beautiful (yet long) drive through.

The Burren thanks to Holliston Reporter

We drove back to Dublin to enjoy one last night in the city before heading back to Berlin. Just like the rest of our trip, our last night was filled with lovely and polite people, great food and a lively atmosphere. I think the best thing about Ireland, in addition to its magical landscape, is the warmth of the people. They were nicer, friendlier and more polite than Canadians …..and that is really hard to imagine!!!

I’m looking forward to another road trip in Ireland – maybe next spring or summer, this time to check out the north! Happy travels!

]]>https://hellobonjour.ca/2013/11/07/the-magical-green-island-a-road-trip-in-ireland/feed/0hellobonjourblogDingle Peninsula, IrelandHow Canadians can get a German Driver’s License (Berlin)https://hellobonjour.ca/2013/10/11/how-canadians-can-get-a-german-drivers-license-berlin/
https://hellobonjour.ca/2013/10/11/how-canadians-can-get-a-german-drivers-license-berlin/#commentsFri, 11 Oct 2013 08:38:27 +0000http://hellobonjour.ca/?p=485I was looking around for information on how this works for awhile and didn’t have much luck. In the end, I just went through the process, had a lot of luck by getting a really nice lady at the Government office and now just have to wait 8 weeks for my German license! I’ll tell you how I did it after the jump. By the way, this article is mainly for Canadians who are looking to swap their Canadian Driver’s License for a German one. People from other countries have to check out the rules themselves…it can vary quite dramatically depending on your country, and even the state/province you are from.

I couldn’t actually figure out the first step – I mean, where was I supposed to go? On the internet, people kept advising to go to the main hub in Berlin, somewhere near Friedrichstrasse but my goal was to avoid getting an ADAC translation (which takes a week or so and costs around 60 Euros, I hear). I mean, that seemed like such a waste of money. There is only basic information on my license – address, validity, height, weight, etc. What the heck are you going to translate??! Anyway, it seemed, from what I read, that everyone who went to the main hub had to get a translation. I thought a better strategy would be go to a smaller Bürgeramt. I ended up calling 115 on my cell phone, which connected me to a friendly woman (in German) who helped me make an appointment at the Bürgeramt Märkisches Viertel (all the way out in Reinickendorf). I didn’t want to chance the waiting room. Then I went and got a passport size photo takes (all you need is one). And that was it.

I went to the Bürgeramt and there was no one in the waiting room, so the appointment was clearly not necessary. Check the hours though of each Bürgeramt. I needed one open later so I could make it after work and usually they are only open later on Thursdays. I spoke friendly German to the lady. She asked for my Canadian license, my visa that allows me to stay in Germany, my passport, my photo and 35 Euros. She didn’t ask me for a translation or my Anmeldung (registration of address). 10 minutes later we were done and she informed me that my German license would be ready in 8 weeks! I asked if I would be able to keep my Canadian one as I travel often back and forth, and she said I would have to ask when I pick up my license.

The best is that the German license has no expiry date! Fantastic! Good thing they don’t know that I have no idea how to drive manual cars…

NOTE: My German is not perfect, but it is pretty decent. I managed to answer her questions and express myself clearly to the Government lady. The people working at the Bürgeramt do not speak English, so you have to speak German or go with someone who can speak for you.

]]>https://hellobonjour.ca/2013/10/11/how-canadians-can-get-a-german-drivers-license-berlin/feed/2hellobonjourblogImageGermany’s Discriminatory CV Requirementshttps://hellobonjour.ca/2013/07/29/germanys-discriminatory-cv-requirements/
https://hellobonjour.ca/2013/07/29/germanys-discriminatory-cv-requirements/#commentsMon, 29 Jul 2013 13:38:10 +0000http://hellobonjour.ca/?p=424Married. No kids. Born in Afghanistan. Female. Can you believe these are details that are actually REQUIRED on a person’s CV in Germany (and most of Europe for that matter)? The best part is that you are also required to include a photo of yourself. I’m actually quite shocked that there has not been an uproar about requiring these details to apply for a job – it’s essentially inviting the employer to discriminate against you using a variety of different criteria!

In Canada and the U.S., providing these details on a CV are near illegal. It is illegal to discriminate against a potential employee using gender, religion, race, age or marital status. Including these details on a CV would essentially open the door for the employer to discriminate against a potential employee, therefore it is essentially illegal to state it on your CV.

What I find surprising is that everyone in Germany just seems to accept the status quo of providing all this personal information to a prospective employer. There was a huge uproar by Germans, in particular, when Google Maps wanted to take street view pictures of their homes. Personal privacy was of utmost importance in that instance. But why is it that no one seems to be trying to change an antiquated and clearly discriminatory job application process?

The following criteria are required on a German CV and I wonder why the heck they are relevant to a potential employer:

Age – this is a big one. Why does an employer care whether I am 25 or 45 as to whether I can do a job or not? They can easily tell from the education and work experience sections of my CV, what my qualifications are and how much time I’ve spent in the workforce. If that I am overqualified for the position, then so be it. But why do I have to blatantly state my age on my CV? This is just an easy way for employers to throw out resumes of people that are “too old” or “too young” instead of looking into their experiences, etc. and judging them by their qualifications. Of course there are situations where a young, start-up company is looking for a “younger vibe” and so are looking for an employee who will fit in with their organizational culture. That’s fine – but wait for the interview stage, and let both parties make their assessments in person, instead of judging someone purely based on their age.

Gender – in our day and age when we are trying so hard to breakthrough gender barriers, the Europeans insert this requirement in their CV. Again, why on earth does this matter? If an employer is looking for a person (in their view a man) who can lift heavy machinery, then make that a requirement and see who can do it. There are plenty of woman bodybuilders out there.

Marital Status – there really is no reason why your marital status should have any affect on whether you can perform a job or not. Perhaps they want to ascertain whether you are going to be in a “Family-zone” soon, but then again, that is discriminatory in its own right.

Children – are you serious? In a country with a declining birth rate, it surprises me that this detail is required on a CV. The government should be incentivizing educated women to have children, not demotivating them. Requiring a detail like this on a CV essentially creates a judgment in the employer’s mind that a woman applicant with children will not be as dedicated to the job. There will be doctor’s appointments, school meetings, sick days, etc. But the bigger question, as always, is what does this have to do with the applicant’s ability to do the job? If the work requires 80 hour weeks and regular weekend work, then it is the applicant’s decision whether they want to be considered for a position with such a heavy workload. Whether they have kids or not should play no role. They might have amazing babysitters in place or a stay-at-home Dad or whatever. The point is, it’s not the employer’s decision and requiring a personal detail such as this one on a CV makes it a discriminatory criteria ready for the employer’s picking.

Place of Birth – this is another detail where I wonder, what information is the employer trying to glean? If a prospective employer wants to know whether you can speak foreign languages, they can find out in the “Languages” section of your CV. If they want to know whether you understand a culture of a certain country, they can ask you in the interview. Being born in one country but then being raised in another can be very misleading. For example, I was born in Afghanistan but raised in Canada. Great – what can you tell about me from that? Can you tell whether I understand Afghan culture or not? Whether I speak Farsi? Absolutely not.

Let’s take an example of what could potentially happen a few of these criteria are provided to a potential employer. You have a female applicant (required to indicate female as per the Gender requirement) who then also indicates as per the Age criteria that she is 32, as per the Marital Status criteria that she is married, and as per the Birthplace criteria that she is born in Turkey. Just like you are doing in your head right now, a potential employer is also making judgments about her based on these tiny bits of information without reviewing her qualifications or interviewing her to get to know her. The employer might think – she comes from a traditional background and might not fit in with the culture of the company, she is married and 32 which means she is probably ready to have a baby soon and we need someone who will commit for a few years, etc. The thing is, without a review of her qualifications or an interview to meet this woman and get to now her, the employer has already crossed her off their list.

All in all, I’m quite disappointed with this aspect of German society. I’m not sure why everyone accepts handing out these personal details to prospective employers. It’s clearly discriminatory and should not be acceptable behaviour in any country.

]]>https://hellobonjour.ca/2013/07/29/germanys-discriminatory-cv-requirements/feed/1hellobonjourblogImageWhat to do on a cold, wintery night in Berlin?https://hellobonjour.ca/2013/01/27/what-to-do-on-a-cold-wintery-night-in-berlin/
https://hellobonjour.ca/2013/01/27/what-to-do-on-a-cold-wintery-night-in-berlin/#respondSun, 27 Jan 2013 15:18:00 +0000http://hellobonjour.ca/?p=348It’s a cold, winter night in Berlin – do you just stay at home, warm and cozy, or do you brave the cold and venture out into the city? We ventured out last night and what a great evening – from relaxing to underwater music in a warm, saltwater pool to eating Moroccan food in a cave-theme inspired restaurant to dancing it up in a Soju bar, we shivered along the way but still managed to discover a whole new side to Berlin!

The Liquidrom is located in Kreuzberg. When the sounds and people of Berlin get a bit too much (although I never find that – even though it’s such a big city, I always find the city’s vibe to be the opposite of hectic), you can get away to this spa/sauna sanctuary. It’s famous for its warm, salt-water pool lit with laser lights where you can float around to various kinds of music. During most evenings, they have live DJs who spin either techno, minimal, or as we heard last night, minimalistic jazz. The cool thing is as you dip your head underwater, the music follows and the floating sensation with the music and lights is quite harmonizing. There are also two saunas, steam, Himalayan salt room and an outdoor hot tub. Don’t forget that in Germany, the sauna areas are designated as “no textile areas” – so get comfortable with your body (and with everybody else’s) and get naked. We went there around 9pm and stayed till about 11pm – 2 hours costs around 20 Euros per person. Day passes cost around 30 Euros per person but the place is open from about 10am – 1am. (Liquidrom, Möckernstraße 10, 10963 (S-Bahn Anhalter Bahnhof, U-Bahn Mockernbrucke)

After relaxing at the Sauna, we hit the livelier part of Kreuzberg at Gorlitzer Bahnof. We tried to find a place that was still serving food at that late hour. Our luck came through when we found Baraka, a lovely Moroccan/Egyptian restaurant near Lausitzer Platz. After a delicious and very affordable meal (although they don’t serve alcohol), we bundled up again and walked over to Soju Bar.

Soju Bar reminded me of La Esquina in New York, where you had to go through a “fake store front” to the actual bar. The way in is though the fast food looking joint called Angry Chicken. Down the stairs and you are in a cool, small bar made to look bigger with tactically placed mirrors and street signs to make you feel like you are in Tokyo/Seoul/Hong Kong. (SOJU Bar, Skalitzer Strasse 36, Berlin – 10999)

We called it a night around 3 a.m. and the best was taking the tram back home. At around 3:15 am, the tram was just as packed as it was at 2:00 pm in the afternoon, full of young people but not idiots, no morons, no one puking in a corner – just people smiling, chatting and coming home after a good, cold wintery night out in Berlin.

]]>https://hellobonjour.ca/2013/01/27/what-to-do-on-a-cold-wintery-night-in-berlin/feed/0hellobonjourblogImageImageImageDARN IMMIGRANTS! PART 4 – THE RUSSIAN STRIKES AGAIN!https://hellobonjour.ca/2012/12/12/darn-immigrants-part-4-the-russian-strikes-again/
https://hellobonjour.ca/2012/12/12/darn-immigrants-part-4-the-russian-strikes-again/#commentsWed, 12 Dec 2012 19:38:01 +0000http://hellobonjour.ca/?p=304Some days are better than others. I try not to lose it in my German class, I really try – but today, I just couldn’t take it anymore. When the Russian said Nazis were better than gay people, I just lost it. Okay, let me start from the beginning…

We are currently learning about German history, including its legal and political structure. I find the topic very interesting actually, but I could tell this was going to be a tough time with my classmates – well, I guess only with the Russian. Every 5 minutes, he interrupts the teacher with “In Russia, we do blah blah..” and “In Russia, blah blah”. Okay, of course I’m interested in also learning about how things operate in Russia – but not now – not when we are supposed to be learning about Germany and we are supposed to cover quite a lot of material (a high school history class) in about 11 days!

Soon enough we started talking about personal freedoms and we started discussing the NPD, the Neo-Nazi Party here in Germany. It’s actually pretty astonishing that it still hasn’t been banned (there has already been a couple unsuccessful attempts to ban the NPD and another one is just awaiting the Constitutional Court’s decision). For the first time, the entire class seemed to be on the same page re the Neo-Nazi Party and certain class members shared some very moving stories about their own personal encounters with Neo-Nazis in Berlin and around.

Still talking about personal freedoms, one student asked about the Gay Parade in Berlin and how that was permissible considering the costumes people were wearing. I mean, how could children see those kinds of things? I held back from rolling my eyes.

All of a sudden the Russian got very excited and he said “Nazis are better than gay people.” – I couldn’t believe my ears. Say what?? ARE YOU SERIOUS? I mean, most of us roll our eyes at his comments anyway and we just let them slide – but not something like this. I asked him what he said and he was hesitant to repeat it – he sort of danced around the subject but then blurted out that he had two sons and was against “it”. I told him he was speaking such stupid nonsense that I didn’t even know where to begin. Welcome to Germany and welcome to the wonderful laws that exist in this country where everyone’s freedom is protected, thank goodness, from people like you.

How do you knock sense into someone this late in the game? He’s around 50 years old already and so stubborn. Is it my job to educate him? Is it my job to inform him that homosexuality isn’t a choice? Is it my role to explain this all to him in a language that I don’t speak fluently yet? I know people have some messed up opinions sometimes, but either they keep them to themselves (which has its own issues) or they learn to adapt to the new culture and laws of the country they are living in. (Homosexuality is still “illegal” in Russia) I got so frustrated, it took me over 30 minutes to calm back down again, while the teacher just calmly kept on going with discussing maternity laws and pension benefits. I really wonder how she keeps her cool sometimes.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

]]>https://hellobonjour.ca/2012/12/12/darn-immigrants-part-4-the-russian-strikes-again/feed/1hellobonjourblogDARN IMMIGRANTS! PART 3 – AFGHAN ADMIRATIONhttps://hellobonjour.ca/2012/12/03/darn-immigrants-part-3-afghan-admiration/
https://hellobonjour.ca/2012/12/03/darn-immigrants-part-3-afghan-admiration/#commentsMon, 03 Dec 2012 18:11:41 +0000http://hellobonjour.ca/?p=302As much as I have complained about my quirky and sometimes annoying integration classmates, I have to say, sometimes I feel totally in awe of them and their lives…and I admire what they are doing and what they have overcome in their lives.

Case in Point: The Other Afghan

I still don’t know too much about him as he arrived in our class mid-way through September. He kind of looked like a hipster/skater dude with the VANS sneakers and wild, ruly hair so I was a bit surprised when he said “Ich komme aus Afghanistan”. I was so excited – I nearly clapped my hands with joy! We were getting out numbered with Iranians in the class so another Afghan was truly welcome!

During break-times, I have gotten to know him a little better – and I’ve grown to admire him – from being pushed around in Iran, to being jailed in Afghanistan to having his parents arrested (last week!) – it’s a life that I do not wish to know but need to be exposed to in order to be reminded of how much we should appreciate what we have and the freedoms we enjoy.

I started to get to know him during our class breaks (when the Russian was busy fighting with everyone over the amount of fresh air that we needed to circulate in the room).

Our first conversation ended up with him telling me that he grew up for a majority of his childhood in Iran, where he was constantly stigmatized and discriminated against. He said that Afghans were treated very badly by Iranians. He wanted to go to school badly but the Iranians forbid Afghans from attending school. Break-time was over and we were back at the German books, me with a very strange feeling in my stomach.

The second time we got a chance to talk, I asked him about Afghanistan and what it was like to live there. I was excited to hear about “my” country from someone who had been there not long ago (and not on military duty). He shook his head and said it was a disaster. He was from Herat, which is supposed to be one of the cities not as badly affected by the internal violence. He said it was like a wild west, where any idiot with a gun could do whatever they wanted. There was no law, order or peace. He said people lived in fear. There were gansters everywhere who did whatever they wanted, stole land from people, stole women, sold drugs and none of the international troops stationed there had made the situation better. He told me he was in prison for 8 months, the first of those months he was beaten and tortured and kept in solitary confinement until his wounds were healed enough for him to be released in the general prison population. He never knew why he got arrested. He laughed it off and I could see in his eyes the barrier he had set up for himself in his mind – to never let his thoughts dwell on that period for long.

We talked again last week and this time he was excited and happy – his parents, who were still in Iran, finally made it to Greece and they were going to try to make the boat trip across to Italy. This was all illegal of course. They were trying to escape to come join him in Germany and have a better life. Of course, I always hear about the illegal immigrants coming over on boats, etc. but I had never really met anyone who had done it or had family in that situation. He said that he would know in 4 days if they would make it. As we headed into the weekend, I kept thinking about him and his parents and hoping they would make it into Italy…as illegal as it may be.

When we talked last, during a break from learning the Akkusative and Dative prepositions for verbs in German, he was sad. I was scared to ask why. His parents had been caught on the boat and they had been arrested by Greek police. He had no idea which prison they were in and no way of reaching them. To add to the problems, they were in their 70s and they didn’t speak English, much less Greek. I couldn’t imagine what he must have been going through. I could only mumble all my offers of help, in whatever way I could before the bell rang again and we were back to learning German.

]]>https://hellobonjour.ca/2012/12/03/darn-immigrants-part-3-afghan-admiration/feed/1hellobonjourblogDARN IMMIGRANTS! Part 2 – The French Strugglehttps://hellobonjour.ca/2012/11/19/darn-immigrants-the-french-struggle/
https://hellobonjour.ca/2012/11/19/darn-immigrants-the-french-struggle/#respondMon, 19 Nov 2012 17:41:44 +0000http://hellobonjour.ca/?p=275As I mentioned, there are a lot of different backgrounds, ethnicities and languages in my class. I speak to the Chilean girl in Spanish, to the Afghans/Iranians in Farsi and to most others in English as our German does not always suffice for what we want to say. There is a girl from Cameroon in my class. She is around 30, has a daughter and her mother tongue is French. She and I immediately got along in my class as she is smart, witty and has a great sense of humour. But there are a lot of things she does that drive me crazy.

On one of the first days of class, as soon as she found out I was Canadian, she immediately asked if I knew how to speak French. I laughed and told her in my broken French “Oui, juste un petite peu” (which really is just a little bit because I’ve forgotten nearly all my French) – but this “petite peu” somehow translated to “I speak French fluently” to the Cameroon girl because from that moment on, she spoke to me pretty much only in French and kept asking me to translate from German to French! Geezuz!

During class, we work on certain tasks where we are supposed to talk to each other in German and just practice speaking. No matter how nice she is, I hate working with the Cameroon girl. She won’t speak to me in German and she’ll go off tangent and start speaking in French to me and get mad at me for not speaking to her back in French. Sure I can understand a little bit, but it confuses the hell out of me and it’s so basic that it’s better to speak in German. No matter how many times I ask her to please speak in German, she always pouts and says that I speak all the other languages with my other classmates but I refuse to speak French to her. How many times do I have to tell her it’s because I DON’T SPEAK FRENCH!

The last time we worked together, instead of doing the assignment we were supposed to do she proceeded to tell me that she was quite pissed off that the Afghan guy was sitting in her spot. She had to sit next to me near the back of the class when she usually sits in the front. She went on and on about this, how she told him that’s her spot, that she needs that spot because she has bad eyes and how he keeps sitting there and she hates it and wonders why no one else sits in other people’s spots. And this is coming from someone who comes to class late all the time and sometimes brings her 4 year old daughter with her to cIass so we can all babysit her together (that’s a whole other story). I kept telling her to just get to class on time and maybe she could get her spot – but there also really is no “fixed” spots. We aren’t in Grade 1 for goodness sakes! She just kept rolling her eyes and saying “But it’s my spot!”. Like what am I supposed to say or do? And why am I wasting my German learning time where I am supposed to be practicing our German vocabulary on this stuff? Argggh!

]]>https://hellobonjour.ca/2012/11/19/darn-immigrants-the-french-struggle/feed/0hellobonjourblogDarn Immigrants! – What I Have to Deal with in my German Integration Course – Part 1https://hellobonjour.ca/2012/11/14/darn-immigrants-what-i-have-to-deal-with-in-my-german-integration-course-part-1/
https://hellobonjour.ca/2012/11/14/darn-immigrants-what-i-have-to-deal-with-in-my-german-integration-course-part-1/#commentsWed, 14 Nov 2012 17:07:20 +0000http://hellobonjour.ca/2012/11/14/darn-immigrants-what-i-have-to-deal-with-in-my-german-integration-course-part-1/I go to an immigrant integration course here in Berlin – a mix of all different kinds of people from different backgrounds – all of us mixed together for 4 hours every day trying to learn one of the most difficult languages out there: GERMAN. This leads to a lot of tense/interesting/funny/strange moments and comments that I thought I would capture here because it is truly a unique experience I am going through. It’s not every day that so many different backgrounds, ages, cultures, social upbringings, education levels, etc. are mixed in one room and forced to try to get along!

My background: I’m Canadian, ethnically Afghan and a lawyer in Canada. I have two university degrees and have lived in a few different countries. I speak English, Farsi, Spanish, a bit of French and now German. Generally, we Canadians are polite, non-confrontational and respectful of others’ opinions and personal space.

Something new happens every day so I will just start writing about the interesting ones on here as they happen so you can have a taste of what I go through every day! Some incidents are funny, some are astonishing, some are racist, some are just silly…but this is real life…

This is a course that is pretty much required for anyone wanting to live permanently in Germany (except for certain citizens – Canadians, Americans, Australians, etc.) I’m taking it because I want to learn German and the German government subsidizes half of the cost so it is really affordable. Most of the rest of my class though is not paying for the course; most are on on welfare so the course is paid for by welfare. They are required to attend school every day in order to legally be able to stay in Germany.

Incident 1: The Russian and his Windows

Every day, we have two breaks during our class. These are short 10 minute breaks for us to get a coffee, have a bathroom break or go smoke (as most people in Germany still do). As I was coming back to the classroom during one of these breaks, I noticed that both windows in the class (large windows) were open even though it was freezing outside (remember we are in Berlin). I noticed the Iranian girl and the Cameroon girl were shivering so I asked them if they would like me to close the windows. They said, “Yes, please!” so I went to shut the windows, when suddenly the Russian (a man around 50 years) yelled at me not to shut them and that the room was really stuffy. He yelled that we needed to air out the room and how important that was for our health. I looked at the shivering girls and noticed the Chilean, the Kosovo woman and the other Russian woman were also cold. I told the Russian man calmly that the girls were cold and that I was going to close the window. I also mentioned that if he needed some more fresh air that he could go downstairs and go outside. The Cameroon girl took my comment as a lead to start criticizing the Russian for opening the windows in the first place. The Russian started yelling back at her that if she didn’t like the cold that she should go back to Africa where it was hot. I just went back to my seat and wondered why the heck this was such a big deal. Normally people ask others if they don’t mind if the windows are opened. How could the Russian be so blind and ignore that half the people in the room were freezing? He proceeded to play a French song loud on his phone’s speakers in the class while others were trying to have conversations. *sigh* This was “break” time.

]]>https://hellobonjour.ca/2012/11/14/darn-immigrants-what-i-have-to-deal-with-in-my-german-integration-course-part-1/feed/2hellobonjourblogDay Trips from Berlin: Potsdamhttps://hellobonjour.ca/2012/10/21/berlins-little-cousin-potsdam/
https://hellobonjour.ca/2012/10/21/berlins-little-cousin-potsdam/#respondSun, 21 Oct 2012 17:13:44 +0000http://hellobonjour.ca/2012/10/21/berlins-little-cousin-potsdam/A beautiful, October day – 20 degrees and sunny – and a perfect day to explore Potsdam, Berlin’s little, yet very pretty cousin, next door. We checked out royal gardens (in pic below -Sanssoucci), a Russian colony, the Dutch quarter and of course, to keep it exciting, a random Stasi prison.

Potsdam is a historically rich city – from the Prussian Kings who lived here to its significance in hosting Churchill, Stalin and Trumen during the Potsdam Conference post World War II. Not only that but I had heard a lot about Potsdam – that it was this beautiful, quaint little town (although it is the capital city of the state of Brandenburg) but I was waiting for the perfect day to check it out. Although the weather in the summer is perfect for a trip to Potsdam, sometimes there are so many tourists that it makes it really uncomfortable to see the sights. But this October day was perfect.

To get there: we hopped on the S7 train from Hackesher Markt and that took us straight to Potsdam, although we were on it for about 45 mins. We took our bikes with us so that we would be able to get around quickly in the city. Although Potsdam is small, you can’t really explore it by foot. Bikes are a great option.

Our first stop was one of the famous “quarters” in Potsdam: the Dutch quarter. This is about a 4-block area that was built in 1734 to be used by Dutch craftmen who settled here. It was pretty crazy that the whole Dutch architecture was transported to Potsdam. Yes, it is quite touristy here but it was just super neat to see.

Then we continued our bike ride and came across the craziest thing. All of sudden the landscape became flat and all these wooden farm-house types of buildings surrounded us. There weren’t that many of them but it felt like we had just been transported again – this time…to Russia! Yes, we were in the Russian colony. This colony of 13 wooden houses were built in 1826 as a special request of the Prussian King, Friedrich Wilhelm III to house Russian immigrant singers. Totally nuts. We continued along the road on the way to a beer garden on the lake when we stumbled upon an old Stasi prison. There are so many interesting reminders of Germany’s turbulent past everywhere – and sometimes they exist right alongside Germany’s more rich and beautiful past. Here in this stunning, picturesque UNESCO town, there’s a Stasi prison used during DDR times to quell any anti-government citizens, Germans or Sovients. They were kept here, tortured, interrogated, convicted or sent off to Soviet labour camps. It was really eerie. A picture of the cell block is below plus a picture of one of the punishment cells.

After that heavy stop, we continued along to Cecilenhof beer garden, enjoyed lunch overlooking one of the many lakes Potsdam hosts.

I love how close Potsdam is to the craziness of Berlin. It’s nice to know you can get out of the city in a 40 minute train ride and be surrounded by truly idyllic surroundings. But again, Potsdam also has its own craziness – even while we were there the Gardens and the castles were still packed with tourists. I would recommend checking out Potsdam during the week if possible. And, really, don’t forget your bike. It made the sightseeing so much more enjoyable!